Contributed by Andrew McDiarmid Copyright 1999

At first glance, the relationship between Scotland and the Silver Screen may not seem very rich or historic. But take a closer look, and you might be surprised how much the small nation of Scotland has affected the history of Cinema, and how popular Scottish movies and move-makers are becoming.

Even before motion pictures were invented, Scots were involved in leading areas of what would become cinema. The world's first Panorama was created by Robert Barker in Edinburgh in 1784. The French-born Scot William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, working with Thomas Edison in America, brought about the Kinetiscope and other devices, which gave birth to the medium of motion picture in the early 1890's. Dickson is also celebrated as the inventor of the 'close-up'. Another Scotsman, David Brewster, was responsible for developing motion in pictures. After the invention of motion picture, Scots were responsible for several firsts in cinema.

The first motion picture to use actors was Mary Queen of Scots in 1895. The first horror movie was based on Scottish author Robert Lewis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The first advertising film was for Haig's Scots Whisky in 1897. And the first In-flight movie on an aeroplane was based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World.

The people of Scotland first watched moving pictures on April 13th, 1896 at the Empire Theater in Edinburgh. This marked the beginning of a great enthusiasm in Scotland for motion picture, and led to many great family-run cinema chains, most notably the Green Family chain, who built two of the largest cinemas in Europe, one of them being the Playhouse, which still stands and entertains today.

The Edinburgh Film Guild, created in 1930, is the oldest continuing film society in the world, and established the world's longest running festival, the Edinburgh International Film Festival, founded in 1947. The festival continues today, and is Britain's largest and most recognized showcase for cinema.

Throughout the earlier history of cinema, images of Scotland made their way to the big screen mostly through non-Scots, and with non-Scot audiences in mind. Laurel and Hardy went Scottish in the 1935 film Bonnie Scotland.

Gene Kelly danced all the way to Brigadoon in the movie version of the hit Broadway musical. Scottish film-makers like Alexander Mackendrick (Whiskey Galore, 1949) and John Grierson (The Brave Don't Cry, 1952) were successful with their films, although a number of them were produced through non-Scottish companies.

Preceding the Nineties, some of the more successful Scottish films included Tunes of Glory (1960), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1968), and Oscar winners The Dollar Bottom (1980) and Chariots of Fire (1981). In the 1980's, Bill Forsyth, who directed That Sinking Feeling (1980), Gregory's Girl (1981), and the drama Local Hero (1983), pioneered styles of popular films that gave a good idea of the range of Scottish Cinema.

There are Scots who, in the last hundred years, have worked at all levels of cinema, and in all areas of the industry. There was Eric Campbell, who played Charlie Chaplin's bug-eyed villian in the silent films, and became Scotland's first film star. There was George Gibson, Head of MGM's Scenic Department for 30 years, and who painted the Yellow Brick Road in the Wizard of Oz. There was respected animators Norman McLaren, who pioneered drawing directly to celluloid, and James Macdonald, who was the voice of Mickey Mouse for nearly 40 years. There were screenwriters like Neil Paterson (who won an Oscar for Room at the Top), Alan Sharp, and Alan Scott.

Then there are the actors and actresses, like Deborah Kerr (nominated 6 times for an Academy Award), David Niven, Alex McCrindle (Star Wars), Roddy Macmillan, Fulton Mackay, Rona Anderson, Ian Bannen (Gandhi), Sean Connery (who won an Oscar for The Untouchables), Ian Charleson (who played Eric Liddel in Chariots of Fire), Iain Glen (Best Actor at Berlin Film Festival for 1990's Silent Scream), and Frank Lloyd, the only man to have won Academy Awards for both silent films and talkies. And in one area of film-making, the documentary, Scotland can claim all the credit. As a form, the documentary was largely the invention of John Grierson, and his first, Drifters (1929), was not surprisingly on a Scottish subject.

Documentaries made by Scots in Scotland have always been respected, from the industrial documentaries like the Oscar-winning Seawards the Great Ships (1960), to the art films of Murray Grigor. And although Hollywood can claim many of the records made in cinema, Scotland has quite a few too. Scottish entertaining legend Sir Harry Lauder holds the record for being the highest paid comedian in silent films, getting 10,000 pounds to star in 1927's Huntingtower. And the most portrayed character in movies is none other than Sherlock Holmes (portrayed by 70 actors in 197 films), created by Edinburgh-born writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The 1990's saw Scotland's stakes in the silver screen rise considerably. In 1995, the world got a taste of Scotland's glorious and proud history in the sweeping epic Braveheart, produced, directed, and starring Mel Gibson, who holds the movie to be the best experience of his life.

Braveheart was the highest nominated film at the Oscars that year, with ten nominations. It won five Oscars. Braveheart's music composer, James Horner, was responsible for introducing a new genre in movie music - the sounds of the Scottish bagpipes, and other Scottish instruments. He later used the same Scottish sounds in Titanic, whose soundtrack became the highest selling movie score soundtrack ever.

Shortly after Braveheart came another dose of Scottish history, Rob Roy, which, with it's stunning cinematography of Scotland's gorgeous landscape, secured the world's admiration for the beauty of Scotland. Continuing the world's Scottish history lesson through movies was 1997's Oscar-winning Mrs. Brown. By this time, Scotland was featuring in every genre of movies. In comedy, John Hannah brought romance to the screen in Four Weddings and a Funeral, and was the lead opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in the romantic comedy Sliding Doors in 1998. He then turned to adventure to star with Brendan Fraser in 1999's The Mummy.

In romance, Dougray Scott heated up the big screen as Prince Charming in 1998's Ever After, and is preparing for suspense in the upcoming Mission Impossible 2, opposite Tom Cruise. And in Science Fiction, Scottish actor Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting) becomes Scotland's first Jedi in 1999's Star Wars: Episode 1, and will star in the next two future Star Wars movies. The original James Bond, Edinburgh-born Sean Connery, has become a Hollywood legend of sorts, being named 19th in a 135-name list of Hollywood's Most Influential People. Connery was one of only two British people in the list, the other being Welsh actor Anthony Hopkins. No one from England made the list.

Scots are receiving their share of international awards too. Scottish director Ken Loach's working-class drama My Name is Joe, set in Glasgow, Scotland, took top honors at 1999's Sydney Film Festival and France's Cannes Film Festival, where the film's star Peter Mullan won Best Actor.

At the beginning of Summer 1999, the top three movies in America starred Scots. At number one was Star Wars: Episode 1, with Ewan McGregor. At number two was Entrapment, partially filmed in Scotland and starring Sean Connery. At number three was The Mummy, with John Hannah.

As the new millenium begins, Scotland will climb to even bigger heights on the silver screen, proving that indeed, the best things come in small packages. Scotland is small, but it's contribution to the history of cinema has been anything but. What's the reason for this? Well, perhaps Sean Connery said it best at the British Premiere of Entrapment on June 30th, 1999. The following day, July 1st, would see the Official Opening of the new Scottish Parliament, the first in 300 years. Connery, an ardent Scottish nationalist, told reporters that attending the Scottish Parliament Opening was a day he had been waiting for his whole life, and he knew it would be "better than winning an Academy Award".

It's that passion, that pride, that patriotism, that burns in the hearts of every Scottish actor, actress, and film-maker, and makes their contributions to cinema all the more memorable and unforgettable.

Andrew McDiarmid is host, writer and producer of Simply Scottish Radio in Texas, and is also a musician and writer. Listen to his original music and read his writing at: www.simplyscottish.com.
Email him at Moredun@aol.com.